2016 Nevada Caucus

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In the 2016 cycle, the state of Nevada has been given special consideration along with states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, to hold their nominating caucus early in the process. Started only a short time ago in 2008, the Nevada caucuses are slowly rising to prominence as the voice of the West during the early nomination process.

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In 2016, the Democrats and Republicans will hold separate caucus dates in Nevada. Both dates are listed below.

The Nevada caucuses began in 2008, reflecting the growing importance of the West as well as Nevada’s electoral bellwether status. In 2012, the Nevada caucuses were the third major electoral event in the nominating process for President of the United States, though little attention was given to the contest. In 2016, Nevada will gain more prominence by holding its vote directly following South Carolina, with the hope of giving the West a greater voice in the process.

The Nevada caucuses, similar to the Iowa caucus, are run by the state political parties and serve to select delegates which are nominated to the country convention. From the county convention, delegates are nominated for the state convention, from which delegates are then nominated to the national party convention, where the eventual nominee is selected. As such, the Nevada Caucuses are dissimilar from a primary since the purpose is to select delegates for the county level, which begins the process where delegates eventually get sent to the national convention to support the candidate selected by the voters at the county level.

The Nevada caucus has 3 levels: The precinct, the county convention and finally the state convention. Overall, Nevada has 33 Democratic delegates and 34 Republican delegates who will represent the precinct level voters at the respective national convention to select the nominee.